1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the recovery of unused fluid in a mixing and bottling system. More particularly, this invention consists of a kit and process to be incorporated into a carbonation and cooling system with a fluid proportioning apparatus, for the recovery of beverage concentrate or syrup.
2. Description of Prior Art
The carbonated beverage bottling industry has long utilized large-scale automated machinery for (1) mixing basic syrup (beverage concentrate) and water in specific proportions, (2) cooling the mixture, (3) injecting carbon dioxide gas into the cooled mixture, and (4) apportioning the carbonated mixture among bottles and then capping those bottles as they pass by on a conveyor belt. A typical mixing/carbonation system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,456 issued to Kemp et al. It operates by proportionally mixing water and the beverage concentrate after which the mixture is introduced into a carbonation vessel. In the system of Kemp et al., which is the system predominately used within the industry, the mixing manifold wherein the water and syrup are mixed is positioned above separate reservoirs for the water and syrup, respectively. These fluids are then forced up through vertical conduits, sized to ensure proper mix proportions, into the mixing manifold. From the mixing manifold, the mixture is drawn by pump into the carbonation vessel.
In a typical operation at a large bottling plant, the type of syrup--i.e., the type of beverage being prepared--may be changed up to several times on a daily basis. A serious drawback of the apparatus presently used throughout the industry is the fact that at the end of each run, when the system is either shut down or switched to another type of beverage, approximately five gallons of syrup have to be dumped. That is, the residue located below the bottom opening of the veritcal conduit is lost to the system and has to be exhausted through a drain on the bottom extremity of the syrup reservoir. This dumping, in addition to inflicting an immediate and direct economic loss on the operator, imposes a significant--and occasionally unacceptably high--"biological oxygen demand" (BOD) on the waters into which the waste syrup ultimately finds its way. This environmentally-deleterious effect can itself have a direct economic impact on the operator, since municipal sewerage for an industrial operation is generally based on such things as the BOD per unit volume of discharge by a plant.
In the present apparatus the fluids to be mixed are transported into the mixing manifold through vertical conduit tubes which extend down into--but not to the bottom of--the respective reservoirs. The respective fluids are then forced up through the conduits by an overpressure on their surfaces exerted by a gas, typically carbon dioxide, introduced into the headspace of the respective reservoirs. During a production run, as syrup is removed from the syrup reservoir by this method, replacement syrup is continually introduced to the reservoir from a much larger supply source, the volume of which is established by the total product volume which the run in question is designed to generate. This ensures that the syrup level in the syrup reservoir does not fall below the bottom of the vertical conduit until the run is completed. More particularly, a liquid level probe is located within the reservoir so as to ensure that the syrup level remains within a desired operating range and in particular that it does not fall below the bottom of the vertical conduit. Whenever the syrup level falls below the preset minimum level the probe activates a pneumatic plunger which cuts off further flow of the syrup from the syrup reservoir into the mixing manifold. Thus, when the run has been completed and the supply of syrup flowing to the syrup reservoir has been exhausted, the flow of syrup into the mixing manifold is interrupted, leaving the syrup level in the reservoir at the bottom of the vertical conduit. In the present system, this residue of syrup is stranded since there is no way that it can be utilized by the mixing/cooling/carbonating/bottling process. The traditional means of dealing with this residue, which typically amounts to five gallons, has been to drain it out of the bottom of the reservoir and onto the floor, from where it goes into the bottling plant's sewage system, thereby introducing a large quantity of sugar and other oxidizable ingredients into that system. In a typical large bottling plant there will be five syrup changes per machine per day, resulting in the flushing of approximately twenty-five gallons of concentrated syrup each operating day.
The allowable BOD level in a bottling plant's outfall is generally regulated by state environmental protection agencies and municipal sewer districts. Maximum allowable levels vary, depending upon the size of the plant and regulations in the particular municipality. BOD levels above a certain threshold level result in annual surcharges over and above the fees normally paid by the bottler. These surcharges can run into the thousands of dollare annually. Furthermore, there are circumstances under which high BOD levels can result in a regulatory authority actually ordering the closing of a bottling plant. There are currently about 200 bottling plants throughout this country operating units which require the dumping of a significant quantity of residual syrup at the conclusion of each production run. All face the same two problems: product waste and excessive BOD levels, both resulting from the practicable inability to recover leftover syrup. In spite of these economic and environmental problems, there is little likelihood that equipment turnover will remedy the situation in the foreseeable future. This is because the presently-installed equipment is costly, relatively new, and quite desirable other ways.
What is needed, therefore, is a practicable syrup-residue recovery system that (1) captures the residual syrup and allows its utilization in the production process, and (2) is easily incorporated into the mixing/cooling/carbonation/bottling ("MCCB") apparatus currently in use throughout the industry.